F4 General Settings Help + enblocal.ini/shadowboost.ini

[Zzyxzz]

uExterior Cell Buffer I'm not sure, but this does only reserve memory for the engine, that can be used?

When you have uGridtoLoad 7, you need to increase uExterior Cell Buffer too, otherwise you crash, as the engine runs out of memory.

But when you have UGridstoLoad 5, 36 is enough. Increasing the value has no effect, as the engine is probably not using the extra space.

So there is no real downside, when raising the value, depending on how much memory you have.

 

Interesting fact is, that the default value was 47, instead of 36, when Fallout 4 launched, but it was corrected afterwards. Probably a typo.

[SMB92]

Maybe whoever set it thought it was for the amount of loaded cells like I did :). I just set it to 49 anyway for good measure.

 

I have seen some sensational posts and guides telling to set this to 144 cells, and they say cells. When I look at ugrids 7 cells in CK with my data folder full of mods, that's about 14GB in RAM for Concord. I think 11 grids for Cambridge was 19GB without anything in my data folder (as in no modded textures and meshes etc). 144 exterior cells buffered would blow up your machine let alone a server XD

[Zzyxzz]

Maybe whoever set it thought it was for the amount of loaded cells like I did :smile:. I just set it to 49 anyway for good measure.

 

I have seen some sensational posts and guides telling to set this to 144 cells, and they say cells. When I look at ugrids 7 cells in CK with my data folder full of mods, that's about 14GB in RAM for Concord. I think 11 grids for Cambridge was 19GB without anything in my data folder (as in no modded textures and meshes etc). 144 exterior cells buffered would blow up your machine let alone a server XD

 

The same goes for iPreloadSizeLimit, where people set it to 8 GB Ram. In the end it is only used for the intro video of the game. lol.

 

One thing i'm suffering from is that even 40-55 fps feel like 30 fps. It drives me nuts...

I also once had small stutters that appeared every 5 seconds or so, they were very subtle, you couldnt really see it, but you could feel, that something is wrong. In the end, after many months of pain and headaches... i turned down my 144hz(yes, my monitor supports that) to 60 hz and this fixed it. I was like... wow... seriously bethesda... never had any problems with any other game. Even when other games run at 40 fps, they are much smoother than fallout.

 

Right now im running with ipresentInterval=0, force vsync with nvidia, pre-rendered 2.

Fallout 4 is a great game, but it has so many issues in terms of performance...

 

Shadowboost helps a bit. I have set it to 1000 min and 6000 max, limit at 57 and speed 1

ENB i've disabled memory management and stability patch. I only use it for graphical tweaks.

 

If some one has an idea, what causes it, that my 40-55 frames feel much lower than they are, i'm open for everything. I have a 144 hz monitor which is now set to 60 hz in windows. I'm also playing with borderless mode.

[SMB92]

I'm in the exact same boat as you. Anything under 55fps is extremely jittery. I usually run my monitor at 60hz for Beth games but I figured out for F4 the iPresentInterval sync to half the frame ate much like the Nvidia option except for me NVs causes tears. Almost anything causes tears lol except solid vsync. On one of the drivers I was actually playing unlocked frame rate without tears or physics problems, I noticed after I started using Afterburner stat's all the time. Have not been able to get that back.

 

I can't get anything more than 1 prerendered frame to work without input lag of some sort, but also I get more of that micro stutter you mention when on 2 or 3.

 

I have monitored the micro stutter and it can be linked to 64hz bug, I can see fps jump to 62 or 63 at time of stutter. But why it happens randomly idk. I think that why Boris put a 61fps limit in ENB by default (although turned off by default) but it doesn't completely eliminate it. It's amazing how you have to change the combination of vsync or fps limit or monitor settings or prerendered frame with every different set up and every few drivers. This has been the case since Oblivion for me.

[Zzyxzz]

But the 64 hz bug is not related to the stutters under 55 fps? They appear only when you are at 60 fps or am i wrong?

I also get input lag with pre rendered 2+ but only in Fullscreen. Its gone when switching to borderless.

 

I've also tried, all vsync options. Fast Sync, Adaptive etc... only the solid eliminates tearing, as you said. Skyrim worked for me without problems. I've capped my fps to 60 and never did any special tweaks.

 

It really freaks me out, when i drop below 55 fps...

 

Edit:

I just tested something... i turned my monitor from 60 to 120 hz.

Set all Nvidia controlls back to standard. (Which was done by installing newest driver 384.xx)

Used nVidia Inspector and set the framelimit to 63.9

And i added the tweak by enhancing AA to get rid of the foliage shimmering bug.

Turned off Fallout 4s Vsync in the inis.

 

And the game is now much smoother at lower frame rates, even without prerendered frames!

But my steam overlay still shows 60 fps cap!? And not 64. Don't know why...

 

Very strange...

[SMB92]

With the AA, last nvidia driver I had to have FXAA off and 2x or 4x enhancement to kill the majority of shimmer (which I can't understand why because hardware is supposed to do nothing) but this new driver (382xx) I had to turn FXAA on and enhancement off! I used to just use 368.61 driver as that was nicest but since Win10 creators update it I stalls them automatically (ffs lol) so I just update them now.

 

Never thought to try capping at 64 lol. I'll have a play with that. The jitters under 55 I don't think are directly related, I think this has more to do with it dropping frames due to vsync at odd times given the actual rate is so variable in F4, but that "pause" type stutter that could also be mistaken for cell load stutter, I always see fps shoot to 63 or so after the pause. It must be such a hardcore bug if Beth never bothered to fix it, or their 30fps philosophy is the reason why they haven't fixed it.

[nastrogogi]

But the 64 hz bug is not related to the stutters under 55 fps? They appear only when you are at 60 fps or am i wrong?

I also get input lag with pre rendered 2+ but only in Fullscreen. Its gone when switching to borderless.

 

I've also tried, all vsync options. Fast Sync, Adaptive etc... only the solid eliminates tearing, as you said. Skyrim worked for me without problems. I've capped my fps to 60 and never did any special tweaks.

 

It really freaks me out, when i drop below 55 fps...

 

Edit:

I just tested something... i turned my monitor from 60 to 120 hz.

Set all Nvidia controlls back to standard. (Which was done by installing newest driver 384.xx)

Used nVidia Inspector and set the framelimit to 63.9

And i added the tweak by enhancing AA to get rid of the foliage shimmering bug.

Turned off Fallout 4s Vsync in the inis.

 

And the game is now much smoother at lower frame rates, even without prerendered frames!

But my steam overlay still shows 60 fps cap!? And not 64. Don't know why...

 

Very strange...

Hi Zzyxzz, Thanks for your mods! And Advice with shadowboost and enb.

Edited July 5, 2017 by HaHaPbi

[nastrogogi]

With the AA, last nvidia driver I had to have FXAA off and 2x or 4x enhancement to kill the majority of shimmer (which I can't understand why because hardware is supposed to do nothing) but this new driver (382xx) I had to turn FXAA on and enhancement off! I used to just use 368.61 driver as that was nicest but since Win10 creators update it I stalls them automatically (ffs lol) so I just update them now.

 

Never thought to try capping at 64 lol. I'll have a play with that. The jitters under 55 I don't think are directly related, I think this has more to do with it dropping frames due to vsync at odd times given the actual rate is so variable in F4, but that "pause" type stutter that could also be mistaken for cell load stutter, I always see fps shoot to 63 or so after the pause. It must be such a hardcore bug if Beth never bothered to fix it, or their 30fps philosophy is the reason why they haven't fixed it.

Hi again! I read your conversation and want to ask. What special settings for NVInspector? Sometimes stutter and CTD (but as I said, much better then was).

[SMB92]

Well exactly what we mentioned. If you have some AA issue (jaggy edges) try turning FXAA on in NV as well to help it. If you have some screen tearing try setting iPresentInterval in FalloutPrefs to 0 and turn on Vsync in NV. If your mouse feels weird after doing that, set Maximum Prerendered frames to 1 in NV.

 

You can experiment with other available settings and see what quality you get. Remember to apply settings inly to F4 and not Global in NV.

[Zzyxzz]

@HaHaPbi my pleasure! I'm here to help.

 

Yesterday was a very short day for me and hadn't much time, but i have to say, i probably finally fixed it.

To summarize my test and results for my whole Fallout 4 life:

 

I use an Asus Monitor with 144hz but without Gsync. (Which is set to 120hz because 144hz doesnt work well with 60 FPS games)

Currently i have an Asus GTX 970 STRIX with the newest driver (384.76). I can also confirm, that this driver works for me. Previous Nvidias driver were really bad and had a lot of issues. Some of them were also a cause of a "never ending loading screen". (They were about 2-5 minutes long)

 

Vsync

An issue that appeared while i was Vsyncing my game, that every 3-5 seconds i had stutters for about 1 second, even at 60 FPS(No matter what Vsync i used, all had the same issue). You couldn't really see it, but you noticed it. I tried all Vsyncs etc... the problem was persistant. Switching my monitor to 60 hz fixed it, but when the frames dropped below about 55 fps, it was stuttering! So i looked deeper into it. I've spent now many hours/days with testing.

 

Fallout 4 Vsync well it works, but its really not that good. I tested it under many different scenarios, with tripple buffer and pre-rendered frames, in all combinations you can think off. Example: Tripple Buffer + pre rendered 1; Tripple Buffer without pre rendered frames. Tested this with pre rendered frames 1-4. I tried uncapped vsync (FPS 120). Capped Vsync (FPS 60). No matter what, when the FPS dropped to ~40-50 it was slightly to medium stuttering.

 

Nvidia Vsync the solid vsync worked very well with 60hz. Every other vsync setting was tearing. I've also tested all settings you can imagine. The best result was: Fallout 4 borderless, pre rendered 2, Tripple Buffer off, full vsync. It had no input delay. Still, when i dropped to 55 fps, it started stuttering. It was "okay" to play, but still noticeable and much better than FO4 vsync. (Its just bad)

Adaptive Vsync does also give good results, but as soon as your FPS go down and vsync gets disabled it begins to tear. Really, heavy.

 

ENB Vsync It works better than FO4 Vsync, still not as good as Nvidias Vsync. I've also tested everything with the ENB Vsync.

 

 

But if none of the tests bring any good results, how did i fix it now?

I'm not quite sure. Maybe it was the newest driver from Nvidia or its my current setting. Or its a mix of both. So what i did yesterday was:

- Install newest driver for Nvidia(384.76)

- Enabled the AA tweak for the shimmering issue

#

Open Nvidia control panel
Click Manage 3d Settings
Select Fallout 4 in the dropdown list of applications
Set Antialiasing - FXAA to on
Set Antialiasing - Mode to Enhance the application setting
Set Antialiasing - Setting to 2x
#

- Everything else is set to Nvidia default (Vsync is set to application controlled)

- Disable Fallout 4s Vsync in both .ini files

- Set monitor to 120 hz (in case you have a monitor with more than 120 hz)

- Download Nvidia Inspector and open the Fallout 4 Profile

- Set Framelimit to "~63.9" (via dropdown menu) and apply

 

ENB & Boost

I'm using the Pilgrim ENB, its probably the best out there because it looks very good and shadows are not that noticeable, which is perfect for shadowboost! Even with shadow set to a max of 6000 it looks very good and you barely notice the shadows getting adjusted. This was a problem with the vanilla game and other ENBs. You always saw the shadow wandering, when Shadowboost adjusted them. It really feels odd and makes everything very very bright. With Pilgrim everything looks okay, even without shadows. So this is a big plus for this ENB.

 

I don't use the memory patch or stability patch. The memory patch makes loading times and textures loading worse. I don't have much problems with that, as i'm using an SSD. The SSD removed those ugly looking LOD textures and also helped with the weapon switch bug. Stability Patch, i'm not sure, if this helps my game. In the description is stated, that it can help, but also can have a negative effect. It varies from user to user.

 

Shadowboost

I've set it now to 59 FPS, as my FPS cap is now at 60 (even the framelimit is at 63.9, don't ask me why, i really dont know it.)

My minrange is set to 1000 and maxrange to 6000. Thanks to Pilgrim ENB, shadows are not that important anymore and much less distracting and more subtle. I've set the speed to 1.5, as it's the best value for me. Too slow or too fast results in performance decrease / weird wandering shadows.

 

I still have short loading stutters, which is normal and i'm fine with that. Once everything is loaded, there are no stutters. Even when my FPS hit 40, they feel like real 40 FPS. Yes its still not fine. I can see the difference between 60 and 40 fps, but its MUCH better.

 

All tests i've made recently, were made at Far Harbor town. The town brings my fps down to ~45 and was the perfect place for testing.